Barthel Joins the GSU program after serving as associate head coach at Nebraska.

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ATLANTA--Joerg Barthel (pronounced YURG BARR-thul), formerly the associate head coach at the University of Nebraska, has been named the head coach of the Georgia State University men's tennis program, Director of Athletics Cheryl L. Levick announced.

Barthel has helped build Nebraska into a nationally-ranked program over the last three seasons. He served as the Cornhuskers' recruiting coordinator and was involved in all day-to-day operations within the program, including coaching, facilitating practices, scheduling, planning travel arrangements and managing the team's budget.

Under Barthel and head coach Kerry McDermott, Nebraska earned the first two NCAA berths in school history in 2010 and 2011 and then made its first appearances in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Men's Team Indoor Championship in 2011 and 2012. The 2010 team attained the highest national ranking in program history at No. 25 in the ITA poll.

"Joerg is a charismatic young coach with an outstanding ability to recruit," said Levick. "He is well-connected and highly-respected in the tennis community, both in the U.S. and abroad. He will build upon the strong tennis foundation we have at Georgia State and develop a championship-caliber program."

Barthel recruited seven nationally-ranked players who have formed the backbone of the Nebraska roster over the last three years, including the doubles team of Christopher Aumueller and Benedikt Lindheim, who were ranked as high as No. 5 in the nation in doubles and earned a berth in the NCAA Doubles Championship.

A four-year letterwinner at Nebraska (2002-06), Barthel led the team in singles and doubles victories as a sophomore before battling injuries his junior and senior seasons.

"I'm extremely excited to be joining an outstanding athletics program like Georgia State, and I'd like to thank Cheryl Levick and [Senior Associate Director of Athletics] Jamie Boggs for this tremendous opportunity," said Barthel.

"The program is very strong, and I'm eager to get to work to continue the building process and compete for championships."

He received his undergraduate degree in international studies from Nebraska in 2006 and was named graduate assistant coach following his graduation.

A native of Friedrichsdorf, Germany, Barthel attended high school at Phillip-Reis-Schule and earned a German national ranking as high as No. 239.